CoLab

For this project I have competed research (artists and subject/task), completed initial designs for the cards, and completed all the computer design outcomes with the help from my group. Along with this I have ended up having work that didn’t meet our satisfaction, so we saw why it didn’t and improved on it, whether it was the design, the process or the material being used.

The inspiring aspects of this project included the ability to design things for a game, for example the board, packaging, poster, cards, and logo.I didn’t do all of these but for the ones that I did, I enjoyed. For the artists that I researched, I wanted to bring aspects from them into my own work, but for some case, mainly all they didn’t fit our project style and therefore we created our own style to work with.

I think I managed to achieve what I set out to do at the stat of the project, this is because I wanted to be more into the graphic design area and where we had two graphic designers and no game artist. Me and George had to share both roles (Graphic Designer and Game Artist), this I was happy to do and I personally worked really well. I was also able to use the computer for the designing instead of a sketchbook which allowed me to practice with software that I’ve never used before. I have used programs very similar to Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, but they are still very different in the way that they work and look. As for the outcome of the project, I feel that it has gone really well, this is because we have worked well as a team, managed our time relatively well and been able to create the game to our best possible standards.

I feel that I felt okay about the events that happened throughout the project, I didn’t feel any stress about the work load or trying to get the work completed to the deadline. I really enjoyed this because the work was shared throughout our group meaning I didn’t have to do all f it. I also felt rewarded and happy about having to use the Adobe software, this allowed me to gain practice in using it and be more in the graphic design area of work, which is where I want to be.

New techniques and abilities that I have acquired throughout the project is the ability to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop effectively and improve on my current skills, I could maybe use some more practice still and learn how to do other effects, but for now I have gathered other skills. These new skills have developed on my creative work as I want to be able to do more on the computer whether it’ll be photoshop or illustrator.

The equipment that I used included the computer (Mac) and my sketchbook with pens and pencils. This equipment has helped improve my creative work as I wanted to work more digitally than on paper because when you make a mistake it is easier to undo and try again. There are also many features and effects that are much easier to use on the computer using software rather than drawing it out.

I personally think that not many thing in our project didn’t go as well as anticipated, many things can possibly be improved but nothing really went horribly wrong. For the things that could be improved in some ways is the packaging as the box when completed and folded looks ripped in areas, so maybe having slightly larger graphics where you can cover up the rips and make the packaging look much neater. Also for the cards, instead of sticking them onto the card (front and back), print the card design straight on to the card from a different printer in the main college, it could make the card look better and more effective, not only that the paper that has been stuck on wouldn’t hang off in places by not having enough glue put on.

I would change my mistakes/improve my work in future projects by doing more tests to see which is best (material, design, etc.). As well as this, have a better time plan to fit in these tests. This can then benefit the project more and give me visual examples on why to modify certain aspects to make them better and work much more effectively.

During the project we did end up attempting different things like the construction method and material. This enabled us to create our game much more effectively and easily. We thought that using thicker card and sticking the graphics down first to then add the tabs before cutting out, would be much easier than drawing the net and then sticking the graphics onto the net. We also decided to get rid of the three card section idea and just have one set of cards, this meant changing the card design colours from a solid fill to a gradient of the colour scheme. It also made the cards more aesthetically pleading and much more eye-catching.

I think that other people would view our work as maybe a start, what I mean is that it has all been completed but there is a lot that could make it look better and maybe work better. But I think they will enjoy the game and its concept, the packaging is effective and they willbe interested in the game and what it is about.

the poster above that I have designed is very bright and vibrant. It almost feels welcoming to the audience so they want to read it. I tried to not over complicate the design, but I think there is maybe a bit too much going on at once for you to concentrate on one thing. that can therefore be something I can improve on. As for the general design, I have included the logo, box (which I had to use a flat picture and use multiple perspectives to make it look 3 dimensional and realistic), board and cards (along with the cards at the bottom which are trying to represent them flying out at the audience), lastly but not least, there are social links so the audience can search us up and fins out more at a later time/updates on our product.

I included small phrases about the game so you know what it is and about, in addition to this I have put in bigger text ‘available now’ this is so that it is more bold and clear towards the audience. The use of ‘excessive’ colour is to match the colour theme and style of the game, but also to stand out and be bold. I feel that good posters are mainly both simple and eye-catching. out of these two factors I feel as though it is eye-catching but just a bit over the top in places.

We had created a box in which we were going to use to package our game to begin with, however the box wasn’t very thick therefore it didn’t feel strong. Along with this the card was made from yellow card and when we stuck the white paper over it, the paper became sticky due to the spray adhesive. Therefore George decided with the remaining pieces of thicker card to create the box to make the packaging feel stronger and personally better. As a whole I feel that this was a really good idea as the new box seems much better in every way compared to the coloured card. Below is the first box and first booklet created which we do again as they didn’t meet our satisfaction.

The board for our game has been design on paper and then on the computer. The colour scheme has been kept simple and the how you move on the board has been made as simple as possible.

As for the box that will keep the game packaged, the outer side has been designed twice so a decision has to be made, but their is another aspect/part to the box is yet to be designed. The idea is that the top will lift off, similar to the box for monopoly. The far left is with just white background and black lines (outline).

For my primary research on board games, I decided to look at the Monopoly packaging that I have at home. I found this helpful on what to include on the packaging and what isn’t necessary. the packaging design itself is simple, clear and effective above all. They are able to show the main cover graphics which shows off the TV program that the game is based off.

Along with this there isn’t too much text featured on the back, they use most of the space to show off the board and some of the cards/how it might look when you play it for yourself. The use of the colour yellow which links to the Simpsons because their skin is yellow, the colour represents this effectively.

To add to the top of the box, the game is easily recognisable by the big Monopoly logo which is well known. This logo is clear and is able to stand out well so that it is the first thing that the audience is going to see. this is what makes it so effective, along with the Simpsons graphics, you only need to put the logo in the top left as they are also widely recognisable to everyone.

The designs for the cards have been developed further and therefore modified to make them look more appealing and to get rid to the question system we had in place before. Where we had an idea for three colours, and different styled questions for each colour has been scrapped to use this much better card design.

But with this new design, the cards look more aesthetically pleasing to the audience. They feature a gradient of the three colours (from the colour scheme) which i feel works really effectively.

How to Play: Roll the dice move left or right along the numbers, if you land on a question space you have to pick up a question card of the topic which you have landed on, answer correct move directly upwards, answer wrong move directly downwards. Or you roll again to see how far backwards or forwards you go. Keep going until someone reaches the goal. Number the cards and put the answers on a separate piece of paper.